The Villain has Perished

A blue screen appeared before me.

⟪ You have found the Port connecting to the World 12BSA43: The World of Ancients ⟫

⟪ Would you like to access the Port? Yes/No ⟫

⟪ Entries conditions — Only 1 person is allowed to access the Port ⟫

⟪ Recommended Rank — 1-star Saint ⟫

⟪ Note — It is recommended that the challenger has at the minimum 1 D rank attack skill, 3 E rank defense skill, and 1 E rank utility skill ⟫

'The information is the same as in the novel.'

Ports are pathways that connect to separate dimensions containing a portion of a destroyed world.

Inside a Port is a land that had been devastated. It contains at least one reward that can boost your combat ability greatly.

However, you need to find those rewards yourself. There is no fixed way to clear a Port. It isn't necessary to defeat the monsters lurking in those foreign lands, and you don't need to complete an objective.

The only condition to return is to find the reward. If not, you will be trapped inside until that dimension is destroyed and then you'll be lost in the vast multiverse, forever drifting between the void of dimensions.

'It is weird how every land connected by a Port contains a reward, as if someone purposely created it this way.'

Sighing, I clicked my tongue lightly.

'Makes one wonder how in the goodness' sake Jae-sung didn't notice this oddity in his 1st timeline. It took that idiot one regression to realize that there are higher-planer entities moving behind the scenes.'

In the 1st timeline, Jae-sung thought of these ports as Dungeons. Since his Gamer system was also out of the norm of common sense it made sense for him that every Port contained a reward. For him, it was natural to get rewards after clearing a Dungeon(Port).

'The recommended rank to enter is 1-star Saint. And I'm 2nd Mortal Awakening, 4 ranks lower than the recommended rank.'

2nd Mortal Awakening, 3rd Mortal Awakening, Master, Grandmaster, and finally Saint rank. The difference in combat ability increases substantially from Master rank.

It would take five 5-star Master to defeat one 1-star Grandmaster, and that is if they had similar skills. Similarly, on an average, five 5-star Grandmasters were necessary to defeat one 1-star Saint.

However, the gap in combat ability increases drastically again after Saint rank. It would take 10 5-star Saints to contend against one 1-star King.

'Sigh, if I didn't have my trump card I wouldn't dare to enter the Port,' I thought while peeking at the contents of the black pouch at my waist.

⟪ Would you like to access the Port? Yes/No ⟫

I chose 'No' and retracted my hand. Then I sat back on the hound wolf's back.

'The time flows slowly inside the Ports. But I still need to finish things on this side.'

If everything had been going as according to my original plan, this was the moment to enter the Port. However, after forming the Contract with Orca and promising to stop the war, I needed to delay my inevitable trip.

"Make haste," I whispered to the hound wolf while scratching its head.

It growled cutely in response. Shortly, we reached the base of the Griffin's nest. I released one Jet Dragonfly and asked it to use its skill.

A small explosion occurred. The Griffin never appeared, however.

'The Griffin should've responded to the explosion. Since it didn't, this means it isn't in its nest.'

The Griffin had the skill <Wind Magic> E, <Air Sensitivity> E, and one more unknown E rank utility skill, along with 3 F rank combat-related skills in the novel. It was a 3-star Grandmaster.

It should've been able to detect me with <Air Sensitivity> when I entered the inner section, like it did Jae-sung in the novel. This was why I left Orca behind.

'It would explain Griffin's lack of actions in the past week. The Griffin had left the forest before I entered the forest.' I pressed my middle finger and thumb together in frustration.

'Is this the only way? I can't use the 1st plan without Griffin. So, all I'm left with is the plan of creating a common enemy for monster tribes and a diversion for the Empire, the 2nd plan.'

Jumping down from the Hound wolf, I pressed my palm on the tree's bark and used <Mana Sense>.

But my Mana Sense didn't work.

A large amount of magical energy was being released from the base of the tree and it interfered with my mana that was trying to map the surroundings.

'I can only destroy the entrance of Labyrinth and let the real monsters loose.'

Labyrinth was the name of the giant underground network of pathways filled with mindless monsters. It was so big that it covered the whole planet and connected every continent.

Almost all major cities are built around one or more entrances to the Labyrinth. The kingdoms and Empire had the monopoly over the entrances and they sent their Knight Orders inside regularly, to kill monsters and obtain valuable resources.

In this world, gigantic mana storms surround every continent. Traveling between continents by crossing the sea or the sky is impossible, even for an Emperor rank. The Labyrinth, the underground network of pathways, was what made inter-continental travel possible.

'There is but one difference between the monsters found above the ground and the ones inside the Labyrinth – the real mindless monsters.'

Due to mana ley lines that are hidden underground, the mana grows thicker the deeper you go in the Labyrinth, causing the underground monsters to go insane. As the monsters born there cannot adapt to thick mana density, they lose sanity.

It was a similar mechanism that would cause the monsters above the ground to lose their sanity after Coalescence — because then the mana density of the whole world would increase by many folds.

'The underground monsters are mindless and attack anyone on instinct. It caused humans to believe that the monsters above the ground are also the same mindless monsters, and a target of extermination.'

The tree, the nest of the Griffin, was hiding the only entrance of the Labyrinth in the Forest of Silence. In fact, the Griffin made its nest here to guard the entrance so that no monsters come out of the Labyrinth.

'It's possible that Griffin became insane after absorbing the mana seeping out of the Labyrinth for hundreds of years. That would explain why it suddenly left the forest and attacked human villages.'

I tried to think of a reason that made Griffin ignore monster tribes and target human settlements. But nothing came to mind and I gave up quickly.

After all, it was of no concern to me. I needed to destroy the entrance to let the monsters of the labyrinth loose upon the Forest of Silence. That was all.